Fire Apparatus Ordinance Going Back to Council

It was not exactly a ringing endorsement. 

But an endorsement it was as the Ordinance Committee on Monday night voted to send two bonding resolutions concerning the purchase of fire apparatus back to the full Town Council for its consideration after a public hearing that attracted scant attention from the public. 

“I’m just glad it’s going back to the Council,” was the answer a relieved Fire Chief James Cavanaugh told Stratford Patch at meeting’s end when asked if he was satisfied with the vote. 

Although Council member Jason Santi first motioned for approval of the two bonding resolutions with a recommendation for the full Council to approve it, Santi’s motion failed to garner a second. Santi then withdrew the motion and substituted it with a motion to send the bonding ordinances back to the Council without a recommendation, which passed.

During the public hearing portion of the meeting, Assistant Fire Chief Tim Brennan was the primary spokesperson for the fire department. Joined by a half-dozen fire department personnel in the audience including Chief Cavanaugh, Brennan presented Ordinance Committee members with a written overview of the current situation and an explanation of what bonding approval would mean. 

The fire department has been working without two key engines since a January accident on I-95 severely damaged both engines 1 and 5, putting them out of service and forcing into daily rotation two backup spares. 

However, even the spares have had issues of late, forcing the department to borrow spares for the spares from neighboring communities including Shelton, Milford and Bridgeport. It is a less than optimal situation putting the community at some risk due to equipment limitations, fire officials have claimed since the accident occurred.

One sliver of good news is that the lease truck that is being paid by insurance will be arriving in Stratford by the end of this week, or early next week. “This will act as a spare,” Brennan noted. “When not filling in, it will provide additional fire protection for the company four area,” as well as reduce Stratford’s need to borrow from others.

Bonding will allow the department to purchase a demo vehicle, thus buying time for the reconstruction of damaged engine 5, which will be refurbished and then move to Company Two, thus eliminating the need for a new scheduled engine replacement there next year, Brennan said.

The demo engine can be put into action “in a much shorter time” than waiting for the repairs. The purchase of the demo in addition to the lease engine “will bring the department back up to pre-accident apparatus levels.” 

Ordinance Committee members did have some concerns. Committee Chair Stephanie Philips questioned when the town would receive more information about insurance reimbursements, while member Thomas Malloy also questioned why there has been “months and months” of apparent delay, especially when members noted that it is obvious that both truckers who rammed their rigs into the town’s fire trucks were clearly at fault. 

Town Attorney Timothy Bishop said the timeline has been lengthened not by legal questions, but rather the question of “how much” the insurance companies will pay. 

Brennan noted that one of the insurance companies has not accepted liability, noting that in the case of  one’s house burning down, “your insurance company would pay to rebuild your house and then settle up with the responsible party.”

But since Stratford is self-insured, the town is choosing to go more slowly in committing upfront funding.